Samuel has always been and continues to be the easiest, most content baby! And now that he's a bit older, I'll add happy as well. He started smiling at about six weeks old and belly laughed for the first time at about three months old. His smile is absolutely infections, and he'll flash it at anyone who simply makes eye contact with him. But he has what we call his "Daddy smile" that he reserves for when he catches Kolby's eye, and it's the biggest gummy grin you've ever seen.
Samuel slept in our room the first three months but then we moved him to his nursery and he's been doing great. He typically goes to bed around 9-9:30pm and sleeps soundly until 3-4am. I feed him then and put him back to bed and he usually sleeps another couple hours until 6am or so. Pretty much his whole life he's just been waking up once in the night so we're pretty darn lucky on the sleep front.
For his first couple of months he slept a TON during the day but has since transitioned to a more normal routine of eating, playing and napping. It now takes some work to get him to fall asleep for a nap-- standing and swaying/patting/rocking, quiet, and his paci. But he's generally a good sleeper and doesn't use a paci except for the couple minutes that he's drifting off to sleep.
I went back to work in February after my 12 weeks of maternity leave. It was hard to leave him (and Beckett too) but we've adjusted and are settled into our new routine. We have a wonderful babysitter for Samuel and I'm so thankful for her. She's the daughter of our dear friends from church, Chip & Sherry, and is home for a semester between college and graduate school and has been caring for Samuel while I work part-time. She keeps him here at home, and Beckett has continued his usual schedule of going to preschool most of that time but being home with Samuel and Megan occasionally too. And Kolby's mom keeps the boys a day or two a month and they all love CeeCee days!
When we went for Samuel's four month check up we found out that he had only gained a few ounces from his two month check up. The doctor wasn't concerned about it, especially given that he looks as healthy as can be and is always happy. And he spits up A TON (he's a "happy spitter" though, it's not reflux) so it's not surprising he's not packing on the pounds. So he's our little squirt, and I'm totally OK with that. We'll check his weight again at five months, and I'm hopeful he'll get back on track as his spitting up slows down and also as he's able to nurse more efficiently after getting a tongue tie and upper lip tie revised. To back up a little about that-- our pediatrician thought it looked like he had a very mild tongue tie and upper lip tie, where the frenulum that connects the tongue to the bottom of the mouth and also that connects the upper gum to the upper lip are unusually short. He referred us to a local dentist that specializes in this and the dentist agreed, so they used a laser to correct it. It was painless for him and took about 5 minutes with Samuel cradled in my arms. Hard to know how much it's helped, but knowing his weight gain will give us a better idea.
Some other things I want to document so that I remember...
Samuel's absolute favorite thing on earth is Beckett. It's the most amazing thing-- Samuel just loves to be near Beckett... watching him play, looking at him, just being in his general area is all it takes to keep him happy. Beckett mostly doesn't pay a lot of attention to Samuel, but they definitely have some sweet moments together where Beckett takes it upon himself to talk to Samuel or show him a toy or my favorite--teach him to do "sic 'em bears!"
He's a good car passenger except that he hates red lights and cries anytime the car goes less than 40 mph. He LOVES tv and will crane to lay eyes on it if it's on no matter how hard we try to position him pointing away from it. His favorite song is Itsy Bitsy Spider just like Beckett's was. He's most calm in the car if the Raffi cd is playing. His eyes are bluish-green and much darker than Beckett's. His hair is light brownish and he has a very noticeable bald spot in the back and just underneath it there's a patch of baby hair at the nape of his neck and I joke that it's like he has bangs but in the back. He's apparently small for his age but he's not skinny... just petite I guess. He rolls over from belly to back and started doing that at about 3.5 months old. As long as he's not hungry he's happy happy happy and is content being passed around to other people. We love seeing other people enjoy our kids and are so thankful they both have temperaments/personalities that allow for that!
We haven't had too much exciting stuff going on around here lately but have generally just been enjoying these fleeting infant days with Samuel and watching him grow and change and bring so much joy to our family!
And now, some pictures...
My best little nap buddy.
Samuel with Kolby's grandmother, Mimi.
Aced his check up!
Little heartbreaker!
Cousins first time to meet each other. They are just one month apart. So fun!
All the cousins :)
Stealing sleep snuggles while I still can.
First smiles on camera.
Scrubba-dub-dub...
So happy to be home to my boys after my first day back at work.
Samuel with Kolby's grandmother, Gran.
Hanging out with Poppa and CeeCee.
Sweet brothers. Samuel loves nothing more than when Beckett pays him any attention.
My sweet boy.
Milk drunk...
Samuel's first trip to Waco and Grams and Pops' house.
Snow day! After sleeping basically the entire week in Colorado he needed to make up for lost time!
Reading bedtime stories with big brother.
And finally, a quiet moment with dad.
